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A coworker had a evaporator replaced two years ago on a 15 year old york 3 1/2 ton AC only split sytem. The guys did a nice job matched up a 4 ton evap (fixed orfice)looked good. Coworker just wanted me to stop by and check refrigerant level he said it had been working great just wanted it checked, the old evaporator was a 13 year annual gas and go untill it got so bad he had to replace it so he told me. I stopped in late one afternoon about 1/2 hour daylight left. Unit running with good amount of water draining from condenstae line. Put on guages and temp probes checked inside return wet bulb/outside ambient dry bulb checked chart and superheat and subcooling right on the button. I did not pull the access cover check compressor amps or anything else but did shut it down and restart just to make sure no compressor noise etc. Everything sounded fine. This was Wednesday afternoon he called me about 10:00 pm last night unit not cooling and of course it was MY FAULT. I ran down this morning and found a loose wire on the compressor capacitor??????? I thought at first he was messing with me but I had to put a new connector on the wire as it was almost burned off so obviously something that had been ongoing. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THIS HAPPENING WITHIN TWO DAYS OF A SIMPLE REFRIGERANT LEVEL CHECK! Anyway I am now be much more careful to check all connections etc even if I have to use a flashlight.

When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson.

I hope you charged him for service. I have learned from experience if you don't charge your friends and neighbors not all of them but most of them will have something go wrong and call you back and make it seem like it was your fault. The way I see it those guys aren't friends to begin with or else they would have kicked you down with some money and not make it seem like it was your fault.

it happens to everyone....no matter how good you are, you have no control over a mechanical failure that can't be caught before it happens(i.e. t-stat wire inside wall rubs insulation off and grounds). i just went and looked at friends A/C...told him it needs to be cleaned out before properly diagnosed. cooling well.....but 300 lbs HP and 80 suction, 0 superheat. I asked if anyone's charged it....NO. He said "I just cleaned it...oh wait that was 2 years ago". I'll have to deal with this later, when I can correct the overcharge, which he says never happened.

If only I had a crystal ball and a magic wand.....

If everything was always done "by the book"....the book would never change.

Was checking a system out in a condo that the home inspector said needed to be serviced because it only had a 13º split through the indoor unit.

Turns out the condo had been unoccupied for about a year, and the AC system was off all that time. Inspector goes out there on a 95º+ day and turns the AC on for the first time in a year and expects to get a 20º split, lol.

The system was working great when I got there, so I just treated it as a PM. Owner was out talking with me while I cleaned the condensor coils. Started the unit up and was waiting for the coils to get completely dry so I could check the charge.
After about 2 minutes, the condensor fan suddently slowed down to about half speed, and the "magic smoke" smell was kind of strong. The start winding just picked that time to die. The coil was fairly dirty, so maybe motor was about to fail, and running a little faster because of the clean coil sent it over the edge.

Fortunatly the owner understood and didn't try to blame me for it, but I did have a "OH S**T" moment there.